IGN Comics' Year in Review 2009

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We take a look back at the biggest news and books in a year full of Norman Osborn and Black Lanterns.

By Jesse Schedeen

It's December now, and that generally means one thing around the IGN offices – the annual Best of Awards. It's been a massive year for the comics industry,with plenty of big releases, new event storylines, and a few surprising announcements. Even in the final weeks of 2009, the industry isn't pausing to reflect on the past 12 months. But that's where we come in.

You'll be seeing several features leading up to our Best Of awards, including our countdown of the year's top 100 covers. In this Year in Review feature, we take a look at the industry as a whole and what books made the biggest splash in 2009. In the first section, we cover the major announcements from Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse, and the independent publishers. From there, we profile the biggest books in 2009 based on (not necessarily the best or even the best-selling, but just the ones that got people talking the most). And finally, we wrap up with a look at what's coming in 2010. So far, we're not expecting the new year to be any easier on the poor wallet.

Marvel

Marvel's publishing strategy in 2009 could be summed up by two words – "Dark Reign". Less a structured event than a general story direction, the early months of 2009 saw nearly every book in Marvel's lineup affected by Norman Osborn's rise to power. Chief among these were the Avengers titles, including newcomer Dark Avengers. Dark Reign lasted throughout the summer in major storylines like "World's Most Wanted" in Invincible Iron Man, "American Son" in Amazing Spider-Man, and the Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men crossover Utopia. It was finally brought to a close through the Dark Reign: The List mini-series and the one-shot special Siege: The Cabal. Dark Reign may be over, but its effects will certainly be felt going into 2010.

While Dark Reign was big news, another announcement dominated the headlines in the second half of the year. In late August, Disney announced its plans to buy Marvel in an arrangement not unlike its purchase of Pixar several years ago. While a few conspiracy theorists predicted the "Disney-fication" of Marvel's books or inevitable team-ups between Wolverine and Mickey Mouse, most recognized the interesting possibilities such a merger could bring. The deal hasn't been finalized yet, and it's doubtful fans will notice much of a change in the next year or two, but hopefully the deal will eventually lead to more exposure for Marvel's books and characters.

Though it was quickly overshadowed by the Disney announcement, another major Marvel-related development caught the attention of fans over he summer. At SDCC, Marvel revealed they had acquired the rights to Marvelman, a series as well-known for its thorny legal problems as its quality storytelling. The deal includes both the rights to reprint the original Marvelman stories as well as new material. Readers have already been told to expect Marvelman's arrival in the Marvel Universe sometime in the future. As for reprints of the landmark stories by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman from the '80s and '90s, the future is still uncertain.

2009 wasn't exactly the banner year for comic book movies that 2008 was, but one major Marvel movie did kick off the summer movie season. X-Men Origins: Wolverine saw Hugh Jackman reprise his role for the fourth time. The movie also gave many viewers their first exposure to the wise-cracking Deadpool, who is now reportedly due for a spinoff franchise in the next few years.

DC

Unlike Marvel, DC is already owned by a major multinational corporation. However, DC has existed as an almost autonomous entity within Warner Bros. Given the runaway success of Marvel Studios and its movie lineup, Warner Bros. decided the time had come to work more closely with DC. In September, coming hot off the heels of the Disney/Marvel announcement, Warners revealed that DC was being restructured. The company has now become DC Entertainment. President and publisher Paul Levitz stepped down from his positions (and subsequently became the new writer for Adventure Comics). In his place as president is Diane Nelson, with the new publisher yet to be revealed. The intention behind this shake-up is to create a greater synergy between DC and its parent company, leading to a wider presence of DC's iconic heroes in other media. As with the Disney/Marvel merger, we don't expect any noticeable changes right away, but it should be interesting to see the new DC take shape.

After many years of false starts, rejected scripts, legal squabbles, and angry words from Alan Moore, the Watchmen movie finally became a reality when it hit theaters in March. Long considered one of the most unfilmable graphic novels in the industry,director Zach Snyder nonetheless did his best to translate the entire saga into live-action, naked blue men and all. Whether he succeeded is up to the viewer. Regardless, Snyder succeeded where many had failed, and the film certainly brought a great deal of mainstream attention to the book.

While the early months of 2009 dealt with Final Crisis and its immediate aftermath, DC's attention quickly shifted to Blackest Night. This massive event has easily become the big hit of 2009, a feat made even more impressive by the fact that DC icons like Superman and Batman have played relatively minor roles. Heroes like Hawkman and Firestorm have risen to new levels of popularity thanks to this story. And as for Hal Jordan, he's basking in his status as the brightest hero in a dark universe.

Dark Horse & Image

As the industry moves forward, one of the big questions facing publishers is how to make use of new technologies and digital distribution. Dark Horse took their first step into a larger world when they announced their iPhone initiative. Many of Dark Horse's most popular series, including Hellboy and Umbrella Academy, have been translated into an iPhone-compatible format. Digital comics are a long way form overtaking the print versions, but these iPhone comics offer a glimpse of what the industry might look like in future decades.

While more and more comics are making their way to the big screen, several series are instead making the move to television. Easily the biggest announcement in this regard was the news that Robert Kirkman's Walking Dead is being adapted as a TV show by Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption). The series is expected to air on AMC, meaning its graphic content should survive largely unscathed.

Two Image books have stood out in a particularly crowded industry in 2009. The first is a throwback to the Image of the early '90s, when artists like Todd McFarlane and Rob Liefeld drew in droves of readers and collectors on books like Spawn and Youngblood. Image United reunites six of those seven Image founders in a crossover that teams everyone from Spawn to Witchblade to Savage Dragon.

The other book is Chew, from writer John Layman and artist Rob Guillory. Like I Kill Giants in 2008,this quirky series rose from humble beginnings to a mountain of critical acclaim. Each issue has been reprinted multiple times, and still the demand seems to out-pace supply.

Independent Publishers

IDW had a particularly noteworthy year among the industry's smaller publishers, at times rivaling Image and Dark Horse in sales. 2009 saw the first year of IDW's G.I. Joe comics. Eschewing the familiar Joe universe created by Marvel and continued by Devil's Due, IDW offered a grittier, more realistic take on the colorful heroes. With major summer movies like G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Terminator Salvation, and Star Trek raking in money, IDW's licensed books proved especially lucrative in 2009.

For their part, Boom! Studios found success in their numerous Disney adaptations. Many of Boom's efforts have centered on popular Pixar movies like The Incredibles and Finding Nemo. Boom! has also enjoyed great success in its various Muppets comics. Despite the Disney/Marvel merger, Boom! Will continue to publish these books for the foreseeable future.

Though major comic book movies were relatively few and far between this year, several smaller adaptations hit the market in the waning months of the year. Both Surrogates and Whiteout debuted I nearly fall. Though neither achieved a great deal of box office success, fans of both franchises got a kick out of seeing them adapted on screen. And indy fans have plenty more to look forward to in 2010, not least of which being the long-awaited Scott Pilgrim movie.